Ukraine planned to launch its first telecommunications satellite in late 2013, head of the country`s State Space Agency said Friday, according to Xinhua.
"The satellite will be launched in the fourth quarter of 2013," Yury Alexeyev told reporters, adding that the pay-off period of the satellite was between seven to eight years.
The project, which has cost 292 million U.S. dollars, is financed with a 10-year loan from Canada, Alexeyev said.
He said that the satellite was being mounted in Russia`s southern city of Krasnoyarsk and that the process was at the final stage.
The satellite would be launched by Ukrainian missile "Zenit" at the country`s Baikonur Cosmofrome. It could offer telecommunications services for countries in Central Asia and North Africa.
